Ground cover

ABSTRACT

An artificial grass-like covering for the ground around a tree includes a grass-like mat with ends held together in abutting edge-to-edge engagement by a staple which also serves to anchor the mat to the ground thus forming an unbroken ring of artificial grass completely around the base of the tree.

United States Patent [191 Barnes Inventor:

Assignee:

Filed:

Appl. No.:

GROUND COVER Richard D. Barnes, Loves Park, Ill.

Southern Imperial, Inc., Tupel Miss.

Sept. 7, 1971 U.S. Cl ..47/32 Int. Cl ..Alg 9/00, AOlg 1/08 Field ofSearch ..47/9, 25, 32-33 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Sleen.....47/ Slayter et al.

[ 1 Apr. 17, 1973 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,465,465 12/ 1 966France ..47/32 5 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Washington Post, Jan. 6, 1952, page13 of Parade Magazine.

Primary Examiner-Robert E. Bagwill Attorney-Wolfe, Hubbard, Leydig, Voit& Osann ABSTRACT An artificial grass-like covering for the ground arounda tree includes a grass-like mat with ends held together in abuttingedge-to-edge engagement by a staple which also serves to anchor the matto the ground thus forming an unbroken ring of artificial grasscompletely around the base of the tree.

1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures GROUND COVER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates to coverings for the ground around a tree.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The general object of the present invention isto pro vide a new and improved artificial ground covering which can beinstalled around the tree very quickly and easily and, moreparticularly, to provide a unique ground covering which, when installed,gives the appearance of a well-trimmed unbroken ring of grass completelysurrounding the tree.

A more detailed object is to provide a covering formed by a mat ofindoor-outdoor carpeting with nap which is of the shape and color ofnatural grass, the

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of acovering embodying the novel features of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along line 2-2 ofFIG. 1.

F IG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken substantially alongline 3--3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged exploded perspective view of parts ofthe covering.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present inventioncontemplates an artificial ground covering suitable for use as asubstitute for natural coverings in areas where it is desirable to havethe area appear natural without the attendant responsibility of takingcare of the area so that it always appears well kept and maintained. Onesuch area is illustrated in FIG. I where an artificial grass-likecovering 10 is laid end-to-end around the base of a tree 11 to form anaesthetically pleasing ring of artificial grass between a lawn 13 ofnatural grass and the tree. Herein, the covering is of conventionalindoor-outdoor carpeting and preferably includes a flexible mat 14 (seeFIG. 4) with a grass-like nap 15 attached to one side thereof. The napis made of grass-colored plastic formed in individual strands which arethe size and shape of a blade of grass. Thus, when laid around the tree,covering 10 follows the contours of the ground, blends in with thenatural grass along the adjacent edges of the covering and the grass,and forms what appears to be a natural grass covering of the ground allthe way to the base of the tree.

In carrying out the invention, provision is made of a new and improvedartificial ground covering 10 in which a staple 17 inserted through themat 14 serves both to anchor the mat to the ground around the tree 11and to hold the ends 16 of the mat together in abutting edge to-edgeengagement. Thus, the covering is held securely in place around the baseof the tree to completely cover the ground and provide an area ofpleasing appearance which requires very little maintenance. This is trueparticularly of the artificial grass covering which gives the appearanceof well-trimmed v grass and which does not require the attentionnecessary to maintain a similar covering of natural grass.

It will be appreciated that any desirable shape of mat 14 may be usedwithout departing from the intended scope of the present invention but,in the present instance, the mat is shown as being generally circular inshape and centered around the tree 11. An opening 19 in the central areaof the mat fits close around the tree and a slit 20 extends from theperiphery of the mat into the opening. When manufactured, the opening isof a relatively small diameter so that it can be cut out as desired tofit around a particularly sized tree. As shown in FIG. 4, the slit 20extends in generally a radial direction from the center of the mat sothat the mat is formed as a broken ring with the opposite ends 16 of themat located adjacent and facing each other. Since the mat is flexible,the ends can be pulled away from each other as shown in FIG. 4 to widelyopen the slit for sliding the mat in around the base of the tree.

Once the mat 14 has been laid on the ground around the base of the tree11, the staple 17 is inserted through the mat and into the ground andserves both to fasten the mat securely on the ground and to hold theslit 20 closed. Herein, the staple (see FIG. 3) is generally U- shaped,preferably being formed of a single piece of relatively stiff wire withlegs 21 bent at right angles with respect to a central cross member 23.The tips of the legs preferably are pointed to facilitate insertion ofthe staple through the mat and into the ground. When insetting thestaple through the mat, the free end of each leg is positioned adjacentthe slit 20, one leg being 7 located on each side of the slit and thecross member bridging the slit as shown in FIG. 3. Once inserted throughthe mat and into the ground, the legs hold the ends 16 of the mat inabutting edge-to-edge engagement to close the slit. In this position,the cross member 23 is concealed partially by the nap 1S and restsagainst the mat 14 to anchor the latter to the ground. Preferably, thenap is shorter than the normal fresh-cut height of the surroundingnatural grass to the nap from being cut by a lawn mower.

As shown in FIG. 1, additional similar staples 24 may be insertedthrough the mat at positions spaced angularly from the staple 17 toassist the latter staple in fastening the mat to the ground. Also, morethan one staple may be used across the slit 20 if desired.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present inventionprovides a unique grass-like covering 10 which can be installed veryquickly and easily on the ground surrounding a tree, the staple 17advantageously serving to anchor the mat l4 securely in place and, atthe same time to hold the slit 20 closed. Thus, the covering eliminatesthe need for trimming and other maintenance normally required for asimilar covering of actual grass.

I claim as my invention:

1. An artificial grass-like covering for the earth surrounding the baseof a living tree and comprising a mat having a flexible backing with aplurality of grass-like plastic strands attached thereto and extendingvertically therefrom, said mat having a central opening receiving thetree, a single slit leading from the periphery of the mat and into theopening and having edges defining the ends of the mat, the ends of themat being separable to permit the mat to be placed around or removedfrom the tree, a plurality of U-shaped staples spaced circumferentiallyaround the tree, inserted through said mat and embedded in the earth toanchor the mat to the earth, one of said staples being inserted throughsaid mat in bridging relation with said slit and holding the ends of themat together in abutting edgeto-edge engagement to conceal the slit andthereby form an unbroken ring appearing as well-trimmed grass completelysurrounding the base of the tree, and the height of said strands at alltimes being lower than the cutting height of the natural grasssurrounding the tree to avoid cutting of the strands by a lawn mower.

1. An artificial grass-like covering for the earth surrounding the baseof a living tree and comprising a mat having a flexible backing with aplurality of grass-like plastic strands attached thereto and extendingvertically therefrom, said mat having a central opening receiving thetree, a single slit leading from the periphery of the mat and into theopening and having edges defining the ends of the mat, the ends of themat being separable to permit the mat to be placed around or removedfrom the tree, a plurality of U-shaped staples spaced circumferentiallyaround the tree, inserted through said mat and embedded in the earth toanchor the mat to the earth, one of said staples being inserted throughsaid mat in bridging relation with said slit and holding the ends of themat together in abUtting edge-to-edge engagement to conceal the slit andthereby form an unbroken ring appearing as well-trimmed grass completelysurrounding the base of the tree, and the height of said strands at alltimes being lower than the cutting height of the natural grasssurrounding the tree to avoid cutting of the strands by a lawn mower.